Martinez, Lodeiro, Ciman headline MLS players set to join their national teams

The international break is here, and a slew of MLS stars are set to step up and contribute to their respective national teams in a variety of competitions.

While North and South America focus on World Cup qualifying, Europe faces friendlies and World Cup qualifiers. In total, 52 MLS players earned call-ups heading into the international window, representing 15 different nations.

In North America, the U.S. Men’s National Team takes centerstage with 18 call-ups joining from MLS clubs. Their opponents, Honduras and Panama, called in five and seven MLS players, respectively, while Costa Rica heads towards their qualifiers with nine MLS stars.

In Europe, MLS regulars join some major European players. Laurent Ciman earned a call for Belgium for a pair of matches against Greece and Russia, while Real Salt Lake’s Albert Rusnak joins Slovakia. Meanwhile in Africa, Cameroon’s Ambroise Oyongo joins the squad from the Montreal Impact.

Here’s a look at the full list of MLS call-ups, who they’ll be playing and what teams will be shorthanded when play resumes this weekend:

MLS CALL-UPS

BELGIUM (3/25 vs. Greece, 3/28 at Russia)

Laurent Ciman (D, Montreal Impact)

CAMEROON (3/24 vs. Tunisia, 3/28 vs. Guinea)

Ambroise Oyongo (D, Montreal Impact)

CANADA (3/23 at Scotland)

Maxim Tissot (D, D.C. United)

Wandrille Lefevre (D, Montreal Impact)

Marco Bustos (M, Vancouver Whitecaps)

CANADA U-23 (3/25 vs. Uzbekistan, 3/28 at Qatar)

Louis Beland-Goyette (M, Montreal Impact)

Maxime Crepeau (GK, Montreal Impact)

Kwame Awuah (M, New York City FC)

Jordan Hamilton (F, Toronto FC)

CHILE (3/23 vs. Argentina, 3/28 vs. Venezuela)

Carlos Carmona (M, Atlanta United)

COSTA RICA (3/24 at Mexico, 3/28 at Honduras)

Jose Guillermo Ortiz (F, D.C. United)

Francisco Calvo (D, Minnesota United)

Johan Venegas (M, Minnesota United)

Ronald Matarrita (D, New York City FC)

Rodney Wallace (M, New York City FC)

David Guzman (M, Portland Timbers)

Marco Urena (GK, San Jose Earthquakes)

Christian Bolanos (M, Vancouver Whitecaps)

Kendall Waston (F, Vancouver Whitecaps)

FINLAND (3/24 at Turkey, 3/28 at Austria)

Jukka Raitala (D, Columbus Crew)

Rasmus Schuller (M, Minnesota United)

Alexander Ring (M, New York City FC)

HONDURAS (3/24 at United States, 3/28 vs. Costa Rica)

Maynor Figueroa (D, FC Dallas)

Alberth Ellis (D, Houston Dynamo)

Boniek Garcia (M, Houston Dynamo)

Romell Quioto (F, Houston Dynamo)

Roger Espinoza (M, Sporting Kansas City)

LUXEMBOURG (3/25 vs. France, 3/28 vs. Cape Verde)

Maxime Chanot (D, New York City FC)

PANAMA (3/24 at Trinidad and Tobago, 3/28 vs. United States)

Adolfo Machado (D, Houston Dynamo)

Miguel Camargo (M, New York City FC)

Michael Murillo (D, New York Red Bulls)

Harold Cummings (D, San Jose Earthquakes)

Anibal Godoy (M, San Jose Earthquakes)

Roman Torres (D, Seattle Sounders)

Armando Cooper (M, Toronto FC)

PARAGUAY (3/23 vs. Ecuador, 3/28 at Brazil)

Miguel Almiron (M, Atlanta United)

SLOVAKIA (3/26 vs. Malta)

Albert Rusnak (F, Real Salt Lake)

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO (3/24 vs. Panama, 3/28 vs. Mexico)

Kenwyne Jones (F, Atlanta United)

Joevin Jones (D, Seattle Sounders)

UNITED STATES (3/24 vs. Honduras, 3/28 vs. Panama)

Dax McCarty (M, Chicago Fire)

Tim Howard (GK, Colorado Rapids)

Kellyn Acosta (M, FC Dallas)

Walker Zimmerman (D, FC Dallas)

DaMarcus Beasley (D, Houston Dynamo)

Jermaine Jones (M, LA Galaxy)

Sebastian Lletget (M, LA Galaxy)

Alejandro Bedoya (M, Philadelphia Union)

Darlington Nagbe (M, Portland Timbers)

Nick Rimando (GK, Real Salt Lake)

David Bingham (GK, San Jose Earthquakes)

Chris Wondolowski (F, San Jose Earthquakes)

Clint Dempsey (F, Seattle Sounders)

Jordan Morris (F, Seattle Sounders)

Matt Besler (D, Sporting Kansas City)

Graham Zusi (M, Sporting Kansas City)

Jozy Altidore (F, Toronto FC)

Michael Bradley (M, Toronto FC)

URUGUAY (3/23 vs. Brazil, 3/28 at Peru)

Nicolas Lodeiro (M, Seattle Sounders)

VENEZUELA (3/23 vs. Peru, 3/28 at Chile)

Josef Martinez (F, Atlanta United)

Yangel Herrera (M, New York City FC)

MLS VS. MLS MATCH-UPS

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO VS. PANAMA (3/24)

UNITED STATES VS. HONDURAS (3/24)

CHILE VS. VENEZUELA (3/28)

COSTA RICA VS. HONDURAS (3/28)

UNITED STATES VS. PANAMA (3/28)

MLS TEAMS PLAYING DURING THE BREAK

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION VS. MINNESOTA UNITED

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

None

MINNESOTA UNITED

Francisco Calvo (D)

Ramsus Schuller (M)

Johan Venegas (M)

NEW YORK RED BULLS VS. REAL SALT LAKE

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Michael Murillo (D)

REAL SALT LAKE

Albert Rusnak (M)

Nick Rimando (GK)

COLUMBUS CREW VS. PORTLAND TIMBERS

Recent News

Comments

Two things:
– US needs to stop playing on these FIFA days
– The fact the MLS has become a destination for a lot of mid-tier and upper mid-tier national teams is great and indication of growth of MLS as quality product in the football world.

This is an impressive list. I don’t think the fear that more MLS teams will dilute the player pool is materializing. Rather, I suspect the opposite trend- it’s becoming harder for our young players to get experience at the top level in our domestic league. I don’t have data to support this…

Week 1 of the 2018 USL season provided fans with plenty of great matchups and show-stopping goals. First, New York Red Bulls II came from behind to see off Toronto FC II to win their opening game of the (…)